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inviting ODC to submit abstracts - RC Roundtable - due June 12!

  • 1.  inviting ODC to submit abstracts - RC Roundtable - due June 12!

    Posted an hour ago

    Dear all--

    I would love to invite you to help shape the conversation this year on relational leadership and systems change.  The Host Committee at BI Norwegian includes Claus Jebsen, Ragnhild Kvalshaugen, Brorn Erik Mork and Per Magnus Thompson.  Please consider submitting your work!

    Jody Hoffer Gittell, Brandeis University

    16th Annual Roundtable - Leadership for Systems Change 

    Oslo Norway - BI Norwegian Business School - Nov 12-14

    In today's turbulent world, systems change is no longer an option - it is an ongoing requirement. Whether we are addressing integrated healthcare, high impact education, the green transition, social inequalities, or large projects in construction, our most critical challenges are systemic. We need interdependent stakeholders coordinating at multiple levels, from the frontline to local and national policymaking.

    The 2026 Roundtable in Oslo invites you to explore this fundamental shift from leading and acting within organizations - to leading and acting within systems. How do we foster the coordinated collective action needed to work together between different perspectives, organizations and sectors?  

    We invite Roundtable participants to explore how to enable this transformation.  How can we create structural change to strengthen it where it's needed most?  How does leadership as a collective, relational process help us to build the shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect necessary for high performance systems?   We do not limit leadership to positions and roles; rather we extend it to change agents throughout the system. 

    We welcome your work on this topic at any level of systems change, whether research or practice. Abstracts are due June 12.  See here for abstract requirements and key dates.  

    Join the Dialogue in Oslo

    Hosted at BI Norwegian Business School, this Roundtable offers a unique "third space" where global researchers and change leaders converge. Oslo provides a symbolic backdrop for our discussions; as a city embedded in a society characterized by low hierarchical distance and high social trust, it serves as a living laboratory for collaborative innovation.

    We invite you to help us shape the future of system leadership by exploring how we move from "power over" to "power with." In an era where social policy and environmental urgency intersect, we must discuss how to build a truly sustainable society through integrative solutions. This requires leadership that transcends organizational boundaries to foster shared agency and collective impact.

    By joining us in Oslo, you will engage in a dialogue deeply rooted in the Nordic approach to systemic challenges:

    • The Power of Flat Structures: Exploring how psychological safety and reduced hierarchy enable relational coordination across all levels of a system.
    • Trust-Based Governance: Discussing how relational trust can serve as a more effective coordinator than traditional command-and-control mechanisms.
    • Navigating Welfare Complexity: Learning from the ongoing efforts to coordinate between national, municipal, and private actors to solve "wicked" societal problems.

    Join us to explore how these relational dynamics can act as the cornerstone for the systemic transformations our world requires.

    We invite paper abstracts and symposium proposals for:

    • Empirical research: Scholarly research exploring the dynamics of relational coordination and relational leadership in systems change - early stage work is welcome!
    • Reflections from the field: Practitioner-led accounts of leading systems change in healthcare, education, businesses or public policy.
    • Methodological innovations: New ways of measuring, mapping, and observing leadership and coordination across boundaries, qualitatively and/or quantitatively.
    • People development: New ways of developing human resources to engage in and lead systems change.

    Submission Formats

    We encourage diverse voices and interactive dialogue. You may submit:

    1. Individual abstracts: Concise summaries of empirical or conceptual work.
    2. Group proposals: 3–4 abstracts joined by a common systemic theme.
    3. Interactive workshops: Hands-on sessions focused on RC tools and leadership practices.


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    Jody Hoffer Gittell
    Professor
    Brandeis University
    Waltham MA
    6034981305
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